Just give me a decently priced laptop with good specs. I'm ready to buy here.
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Speculation About a 'MacBook Touch' Builds
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Just give me a decently priced laptop with good specs. I'm ready to buy here.
I wouldn't buy this unless it had at least 2.2 ghz dual core, 120 gb hard drive, 2gb RAM, and a disk drive... and under $1,000
Otherwise its just another overpriced, under spec'ed gimmick like the Air. (And yes I do know the Air has some uses...)
Otherwise its just another overpriced, under spec'ed gimmick like the Air. (And yes I do know the Air has some uses...)
I'm not much of a tablet guy, but I know some people are, and I'd be glad for them if this was true. A friend of mine sounded pretty excited about the possibility, he was hoping they'd add GPS to it though.
"Now think of it in 6, 8 and 10-inch screen sizes".
YES, YES, YES. Even better, 5-inch inscreen. Something like this or tablet, but with Mac OS X, Firewire and Ethernet ports (real ones):
OQO model e2
http://www.oqo.com
We need thousands for our University. The ultimate wired and wireless presentation tool for NATIVE Keynote files and for NATIVE PowerPoint files.
We want it in our pocket. The MacBook Air is too large and hearvy for us!
YES, YES, YES. Even better, 5-inch inscreen. Something like this or tablet, but with Mac OS X, Firewire and Ethernet ports (real ones):
OQO model e2
http://www.oqo.com
We need thousands for our University. The ultimate wired and wireless presentation tool for NATIVE Keynote files and for NATIVE PowerPoint files.
We want it in our pocket. The MacBook Air is too large and hearvy for us!
I disagree totally. Handled properly, I can see a migration from static keyboard and mouse to a flat-multi-touch tablet which replaces the function of both the keyboard and the mouse. As has been brought up in numerous patent filings over the last year, I think we're going to see the end of "keyboard mapping", where every piece of software has to tie itself to a static input device: they keyboard. Even at roughly the same size and shape of current keyboards, a multi-touch "keyboard" would allow programers to to customize the interface for their programs, eliminating unnecessary keys and allowing buttons to be labeled with their actual function, rather than having to remember a endless series of hot-keys for each program you use. And with chunks of the functionality of programs dropped to the keyboard, interfaces for programs like Photoshop or Final Cut can be streamlined and simplified tremendously. Interface options like this were outlined in a recent patent filing, showing new interface designs for music programs and video editing. Who wants to bet that the next major iteration of Final Cut Studio comes ready for these new interfaces?
And once Apple releases this multitouch portable, there's nothing to stop them from releasing a simple software update and a purchased-separately multi-touch keyboard for any existing iMac or MacPro.
It's coming... just a question of when.
Nice to know I'm not alone.
Touch makes sense for something as small as an iPod/iPhone but swiping your hands across a bigass screen (or a table for that matter) is just idiotic. Touch the screen once and it needs cleaning. And how long could you wave your hands in the air for, 5-10 mins after which you get tired and use a regular mouse/keyboard?
HAH! Good one... Its all pretty on paper and after you watched Minority Report, but in REAL life, try WORKING with any graphics/video on a dirty screen... Its a disaster; crap distracting you, colors screwed up, random spots everywhere etc...
So... is it coming? Maybe... In this revision? probably not...
I agree that there isn't a huge market for tablets. Besides, the macbook already exists as a tablet as the ModBook. What WOULD be truly revolutionary and amazing, would be more of a Nintendo DS approach, where we have our normal laptop screen, but the keyboard is wholly virtual.
This would be great for the artistic types which are the only ones using tablets in the first place, but could be useful to general users as well. You could, as has been suggested time and time again, switch between different types of inputs, such as a keyboard, a drawing pad, piano keys. The interesting part would come from the decreased likelihood of accuracy between a laptop keyboard, where most users rest their hands, and a iPhone keyboard. The absence of tactile feedback could be minimized by the proposed vibrational feedback, so that you know you're on a key.
More direct interfacing is the inevitable result with Apple's multi-touch technology. Being able to grab photos and edit them with your hands. Being able to strum piano keys, physical adjusting audio levels on sampling projects, games.....everything can change...people will miss physical keyboards....but a lot of people will get over it really quick....i know i would....so long as it's done right...
This would be great for the artistic types which are the only ones using tablets in the first place, but could be useful to general users as well. You could, as has been suggested time and time again, switch between different types of inputs, such as a keyboard, a drawing pad, piano keys. The interesting part would come from the decreased likelihood of accuracy between a laptop keyboard, where most users rest their hands, and a iPhone keyboard. The absence of tactile feedback could be minimized by the proposed vibrational feedback, so that you know you're on a key.
More direct interfacing is the inevitable result with Apple's multi-touch technology. Being able to grab photos and edit them with your hands. Being able to strum piano keys, physical adjusting audio levels on sampling projects, games.....everything can change...people will miss physical keyboards....but a lot of people will get over it really quick....i know i would....so long as it's done right...
I can never seem to find the link to the article I'm about to summarize, but maybe someone more skillful than I can find it. Anyhoo...
Awhile back, in the early-2000s, one the higher-ups at the CDC approached Jobs about making a tablet (apparently the CDC is a big customer of Apple) The idea was for something that would be a digital clipboard, instantly accessing patients' files, as well as displaying charts, films, etc.
According to the article I can't find, Job responded to the request by telling him how awesome the iPod is
. But after a little whileenough time that the CDC guy wondered if Steve-O was a bit daftJobs responded with a laundry list of reasons why a tablet wasn't practical. Wireless data transmission would be too slow, screen resolution would be insufficient for radiologists et. al., and data input would be impractical.Now, 6-8 years later, these no longer appear to be obstacles. Wireless-n is very fast, screen resolution can be well above the 160 dpi of the iPhone, and, as we all know, Apple has entire library of gestures waiting to be implemented.
I'm not saying Apple is going to build this product, but such a tablet would fit perfectly in line with what Oppenheimer said regarding products that would be priced high to begin with, but come down over time. Not to mention it would contain features "the competition can't touch." So, maybe. Certainly there are specialized fieldsmedical being onethat would LOVE it (and PAY for it).
Wow. I hadn't though of that. That would be a great idea and would force me to make the move to apple. Good thinking there!
no, you're not. if this is really the apples hyped big secret launch it has "IT" turned Segway written all over it. next year this time steve announces that apple has two hobbies, apple tv and macbook touch.
I'm with you! This kind of product wouldnt be released outside of the convention anyway, lets just get a real computer out first...
I could definitely see uses for this if I could use a stylus with it. The screen would have to be the size of letter sized paper preferably legal size, basically make the thing the size of a clipboard. Then I could write notes and such. Or make editing in Photoshop easier like a Wacom tablet. Especially if it could be linked to a Mac Pro for high powered processing of video timelines or large photos.
With optional mounts you could mount it to your armrest or dashboard and have a large touch navigation screen.
A screen you could write on would be great for college students as well. When taking notes it is very difficult on a regular keyboard to go into finite detail if the teacher is scatterbrained and jumps all over the place or starts drawing diagrams. With a swivel webcam one could even take photos and videos of the teacher (presenter) in line with the notes for greater clarity.
I know some do not like the touch screen for lack of keyboard but I for one would love to abandon it in preference of cursive, possibly shorthand.
Of course their is always multi-touch interactive Pr0n
With optional mounts you could mount it to your armrest or dashboard and have a large touch navigation screen.
A screen you could write on would be great for college students as well. When taking notes it is very difficult on a regular keyboard to go into finite detail if the teacher is scatterbrained and jumps all over the place or starts drawing diagrams. With a swivel webcam one could even take photos and videos of the teacher (presenter) in line with the notes for greater clarity.
I know some do not like the touch screen for lack of keyboard but I for one would love to abandon it in preference of cursive, possibly shorthand.
Of course their is always multi-touch interactive Pr0n
If WinXP Tablet has taught us anything, it's that user interfaces designed for a keyboard and a mouse/trackpad do not work very fluently on computers which have neither a keyboard nor a mouse/trackpad. Tablets require developers to rethink their user interfaces for a computer where the main form of interaction is touching the screen.
This is why iPhone and iPod touch run Cocoa touch, rather than Cocoa. It prods developers to do the necessary design work to implement a user interface which makes best use of a multi-touch screen (and accelerometer). It drives home the point that programs for a touchscreen require an interface different from programs for a keyboard and mouse.
"Pen-enabled" programs exist for WinXP Tablet, but most programs pretend the stylus (or the touchscreen) is a mouse. I think developers pretend the touchscreen is a mouse because they know how to deal with mice, and WinXP Tablet lets them get away with it. (Also, if WinXP Tablet weren't a superset of WinXP Pro, there wouldn't have been many programs which ran on it.)
Anyway, I'm skeptical that Apple will create a tablet which runs Mac OS X programs. The vast majority of Mac OS X aren't optimized for tablet use. Microsoft can get away with a subpar user experience. Apple can't.
This is why iPhone and iPod touch run Cocoa touch, rather than Cocoa. It prods developers to do the necessary design work to implement a user interface which makes best use of a multi-touch screen (and accelerometer). It drives home the point that programs for a touchscreen require an interface different from programs for a keyboard and mouse.
"Pen-enabled" programs exist for WinXP Tablet, but most programs pretend the stylus (or the touchscreen) is a mouse. I think developers pretend the touchscreen is a mouse because they know how to deal with mice, and WinXP Tablet lets them get away with it. (Also, if WinXP Tablet weren't a superset of WinXP Pro, there wouldn't have been many programs which ran on it.)
Anyway, I'm skeptical that Apple will create a tablet which runs Mac OS X programs. The vast majority of Mac OS X aren't optimized for tablet use. Microsoft can get away with a subpar user experience. Apple can't.
I want one!
I think this would be very cool. I would love a device that I could move around the house that has features like this.....a lot better than hauling a laptop around. I own a lenovo x60 and I like it but it is still a laptop. Reading pdfs etc on it is pretty awesome but I would like a mac tablet instead. I could see this tying into apple tv, etc. It would be really cool.
I think this would be very cool. I would love a device that I could move around the house that has features like this.....a lot better than hauling a laptop around. I own a lenovo x60 and I like it but it is still a laptop. Reading pdfs etc on it is pretty awesome but I would like a mac tablet instead. I could see this tying into apple tv, etc. It would be really cool.
Ideas...
Apple should come out with something very much like the tablets by toshiba where the screen can flip around, fold down and be a tablet, or exist as a regular laptop computer with touch capabilities. The other idea is a dual screen laptop where the second screen is instead of the touch pad and it replicates the large screen in a mini version. It will simulate all of the touch functions of the iphone but be embedded in a portable laptop. I think that Apple is severely mislead if they expect to profit off a tablet without a keyboard. it brings back the disadvantages that the iphone managed to steer clear of: weight and battery life. Apple should ask the macrumors members to participate in focus groups about what kind of computers are important to the normal mac-lover.
Apple should come out with something very much like the tablets by toshiba where the screen can flip around, fold down and be a tablet, or exist as a regular laptop computer with touch capabilities. The other idea is a dual screen laptop where the second screen is instead of the touch pad and it replicates the large screen in a mini version. It will simulate all of the touch functions of the iphone but be embedded in a portable laptop. I think that Apple is severely mislead if they expect to profit off a tablet without a keyboard. it brings back the disadvantages that the iphone managed to steer clear of: weight and battery life. Apple should ask the macrumors members to participate in focus groups about what kind of computers are important to the normal mac-lover.
Such a dockable tablet would certainly not be an immediate replacement for a laptop (later surely, but not now), however many if not most people are using laptops these days and a tablet would be a good complement. An ordinary laptop may often simply be too large in occasions such as meetings or bringing one "just in case". A tablet would be perfect as such a light-use bring-along device and I would surely buy one to complement my ordinary laptop.
I'm leaving for holiday (or vacation, as it is called in Northern America) in a few days. I'm right now in a very sensitive project and there just might come up some issue for which I may need to be available to resolve. I therefore also need to bring my laptop, which I would rather not do for space and weight restrictions. However a tablet would certainly fit the bill perfectly, more so than the Macbook Air.
I'm leaving for holiday (or vacation, as it is called in Northern America) in a few days. I'm right now in a very sensitive project and there just might come up some issue for which I may need to be available to resolve. I therefore also need to bring my laptop, which I would rather not do for space and weight restrictions. However a tablet would certainly fit the bill perfectly, more so than the Macbook Air.
no mans land
Between the iPhone and the MacBook Air, is presumably where this device will fill the gap.
I just don't see a use for such a device. Checking the pages of engadet.com you will find countless of useless Asian netbook and or slider contraptions that does nothing of value.
This tablet will be too big to put into your pocket and too small to compose an email efficiently. This device will fit nicely in the the trash can.
Cinch
Between the iPhone and the MacBook Air, is presumably where this device will fill the gap.
I just don't see a use for such a device. Checking the pages of engadet.com you will find countless of useless Asian netbook and or slider contraptions that does nothing of value.
This tablet will be too big to put into your pocket and too small to compose an email efficiently. This device will fit nicely in the the trash can.
Cinch
I hear what you're saying, however I just don't know if that would fit Apple's current philosophy. Sure, they had a stylus with the Newton but that was a while ago and I think that the technology direction Apple has chosen with the iPhone and multi-touch have shown us that they essentially "look down" on the stylus and physical keys as input methods. Then again, that's with respect to handheld devices and phones such as the Touch and the iPhone - obviously a tablet PC would be a different animal. At the end of the day though, I believe multi-touch is the direction that Apple is taking and we will be seeing more and more of the technology being integrated into all aspects of their product lines. It's just a matter of time.
My thoughts exactly. I understand that people would buy anything that Apple releases. I am one of those people
. But personally, I do not see the need for a tablet. What could I possibly do on a tablet that I cannot do on my macbook or iphone? Just a personal opinion.